ipl-logo

Symbols In The Birthmark And The Minister's Black Veil

620 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The ministers black veil symbolizes

A Deeper Meaning: A Comparison of Symbols Nathaniel wrote both “The Birthmark” and “The Minister’s Black Veil”. He uses symbols in both of these short stories. The symbolism in “The Minister’s Black Veil” evokes the stories theme more than in “The Birthmark”. The veil is the stronger symbol. Georgiana’s birthmark is a symbol of her mortality. The narrator explains that everything in nature is flawed and dies. The hand shaped mark is the only thing on an otherwise perfect person, the thing that portrays her as mortal. Aylmer believes that the birthmark marks his wife’s premature death. Being the smart man that he is one would believe that he would just see the birthmark for what it is, but he makes a fatal misinterpretation. He truly believes …show more content…

Hawthorne is not as straight forward with this symbol as he is in “The Birthmark”, but it is still a strong symbol when examined closely. The members of Reverend Hooper’s church are under the impression that he has committed an awful crime and is concealing a secret sin. Readers are comfortable believing his because of Hawthorne’s footnote in the original text concerning the Reverend Joseph Moody who wore a black veil after killing a dear friend (Hawthorne 8). The secret sin in “The Minister’s Black Veil” is an affair he had with the young woman who they laid to rest, and that he could have something to do with her death. The veil makes its first appearance on the day of her funeral, and Reverend Hooper says that it is a sign of mourning, but mourning who? He is obviously speaking of this young maiden (Hawthorne 5). Some believe that there is even a deeper secret between the young lady and Reverend Hooper and that is that he has received a sexually transmitted disease (Emmett 103). It would be a huge scandal in his church if anyone were to find out and that is why he keeps it very quiet. He then goes on to make a sermon on secret sin only to make it clear that he is hiding something. On the statement that he could have something to do with her death: It is very obvious that he had played a part in it, first he dons a black veil that only women who mourn wear, then has a very intimate prayer for her funeral,

Show More
Related
754 Words | 4 Pages

In Hawthorne’s short story, the minister walks out of the rectory one morning with a black veil covering his face. In this story, it is heavily debated what that black veil actually symbolizes. Could it be a symbol of sin and guilt, or is it rather a barrier between the minister and the rest of society? The story takes place in winter at Milford, Connecticut, where it focuses on Parson Hooper, the town’s minister.

Read More
682 Words | 3 Pages

In contrast, “The Minister’s Black Veil,” incorporates a narrative style, with the theme that one cannot hide from their own sins. Hawthorne writes, “There is an hour to come when all of us shall cast aside our veils.” The veil symbolizes sin, so the quote explains that one lives with their sins until death. This is a key line that ties the story’s theme

Read More
641 Words | 3 Pages

Poems like "The Raven" serve as great references to find emotions that the author may have not been able to express as intensely if it was not for symbolism. Symbolism is more popularly used to portray more harsh, or intense feelings. In "The Minister's Black Veil" the minister's feelings of guilt and sinfulness are expressed through the dark and mysterious veil ("SchoolWorkHelper"). Nathaniel Hawthorne put the wedding and funeral in the story to symbolize the circle of life and death (Lorcher). Continuing with the idea of symbolism in the wedding and funeral, the minister and his black veil creates a sense of evil at both events and reminds the reader that evil presences can be anywhere (Lorcher).

Read More
547 Words | 3 Pages

(Hawthorne, 5) The minister says this to show that the veil represents the secret sin that one will carry with them while on earth. Despite the fact that they have different ideas , both authors are able to reveal a greater meaning through

Read More
468 Words | 2 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne's, " The Ministers Black Veil", is regarded to one of the first and greatest examples of American Short Fiction. Like many of Hawthorne's novels and stories the story is developed around a single around a single symbol; in this case, the black veil. There are ambiguous ways of explaining why Mr. Hooper wears the black veil? Mr. Hooper wears the black veil to signify he is wearing the sins of the puritans in the village. Mr. Hooper is a reverend, making one of his roles to listen to the puritans sins.

Read More
559 Words | 3 Pages

Hooper was wearing the veil to make people that actually did sin feel better about themselves. He was looked at as an idol by everyone so why would he wear a veil for people who did wrong? Mr. Hooper did something someone of his position was sacred to do and he was scared for his fiancée and his church to find out. As a reverend he was not supposed to sin, and that is why everyone looked at him differently and judged him without knowing why he wore the veil. By wearing the veil, he had to commit another sin and lie to his fiancée about why he was wearing it and he broke their vows as a result.

Read More
1158 Words | 5 Pages

The veil that the minister wears in "The Ministers Black Veil", by Nathanial Hawthorne represents both the minister’s isolation from society and also his connection to society through sin. This symbolism of the veil is no immediately obvious, but later on throughout the story becomes noticeable. In the story when the minister, Mr. Hooper first walks out of his house wearing the black veil, everyone was startled. No one quite understood why the minister would be wearing this veil for no specific reason.

Read More
899 Words | 4 Pages

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two rather similar pieces of writing, not in style, but in topic. While they are almost completely different in the entirety of it all, they do somewhat hover over some of the same concepts, such as the wickedness and evil that is present in mankind, both on a personal level and on a broad spectrum. Both of these writings have very different themes and writings styles though. Jonathan Edwards takes a more direct approach, as it is actually a sermon that he once delivered to his Puritan church. Nathaniel, however, writes his in the view of a narrative, and that has a completely different effect; in this case, a better one.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

The first and most important use of symbolism we receive is that of the birthmark. We learn that, “in the centre of Georgians's left cheek, there was a singular mark, deeply interwoven, as it were, with the texture and substance of her face” (205). Upon further reading Hawthorne tells us that, “Its shape bore not a little similarity to the human hand” (205). Georgiana had a birthmark right in the middle of her left cheek that resembled a tiny hand in which Aylmer thought was very imperfect. The birthmark symbolizes mortality or an imperfection of

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

What can you expect from a minister from changing persona where people use to see him as a “gentlemanly men, of about thirty, though still a bachelor, was dressed with due clerical neatness.” Then have a change in his appearance where it drastically changes his life. By a piece of cloth over his head accounts reactions of the congregation to it, the veil, a black veil that changed the image and the reactions of the people from Westbury. It is just a man, Mr.Hooper, who Hawthorne is modulating between dramatic incidents involving the black veil and Mr.Hooper approaches dramatic reactions towards it, in the short story the “Minister’s Black Veil”. The key symbol of the short story is the black veil it represented the spiritual isolation between

Read More
1277 Words | 6 Pages

"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a parable written to ponder the mind of the reader and to make them realize many aspects of life. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. This early American Romanticism story is about a Minister named Parson Hooper who, wore a black veil on his face, covering it entirely. He lived in a small little village, where he was the Minister and soon he started to wear a black veil for the multiple reasons but the most important reason is articulated several times in the parable. American Romanticism is an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement.

Read More
1358 Words | 6 Pages

In the “Minister's Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne looks to convey the wrongs of the Puritan faith through a character in his story. Hawthorne effectively does this through his use of Mr. Hooper, a man who embodies all of the Puritan faith and a man who would be admired by many of his religion. Hawthorne uses both Mr. Hooper and the veil Hooper wears to portray and criticize the issues of sin and morality within the Puritan faith. Before diving in to all that Hawthorne exposes of the Puritan faith, historical context is vital to understanding Hawthorne’s purpose of writing his story.

Read More
408 Words | 2 Pages

Georgiana’s birthmark represents her grasp on humanity as shown in its shape as a hand. The hand symbolizes humanity’s role in nature and the continuous struggle between nature and science. Georgiana is someone who Aylmer sees as created “nearly perfect from the hand of Nature” (Hawthorne 1). Her birthmark is an imprint left by nature and is representative of humanity’s ties to it. Altering nature isn’t something that humans should be able to do because it is more powerful than any creation made by man.

Read More
993 Words | 4 Pages

In the “Minister’s Black Veil”, Hawthorne displays Hooper and the symbol of the veil as a representation of how judgmental society can become when faced with situations they don’t understand even though they have no right to judge. The “Minister’s Black Veil” was written as a parable in order to teach us a moral lesson stating that you should never judge someone. In Paul J. Emmett’s literary criticism he tells of a point in the story when Hooper explains his reasoning for wearing the veil, Emmett says, “After exhausting life in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good, he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of infinite purity, we

Read More
437 Words | 2 Pages

The birthmark represented Georgiana's earthliness. The narrator goes on to tell us that Alymer thought that it was a symbol of earthliness. “This birthmark was to him a symbol of his wife’s earthliness, her capacity for sin, sorrow, decay and death. (pg. 18 )

Read More

More about Symbols In The Birthmark And The Minister's Black Veil

Related Topics

Open Document